The need for education reform grows more obvious daily. We claim to have learned that if we keep doing what we’re doing, we are going to keep getting what we are getting, but our talk about providing a world-class education to all students is unsubstantiated boasting. We once led the world in education but we now rank 16th in science, 22nd in math and 18th in high school graduation rates. How can we compete in a twenty-first century world when we continue an 18th Century education system? We tweak instead of changing a system that isn’t working effectively.

In 1800, it was widely accepted that the body of knowledge doubled every 50 years. By 1950, we were told it doubled every 10 years; in 1970, it was projected to double every five years. Today it doubles every two to three years. Innovations and technology have revolutionized manufacturing and production in almost every field but somehow we either turn our heads or refuse to see how these lessons apply to education.

New technologies and innovations are here now and, curiously enough, are being developed in our backyard. Lenovo, with American headquarters in Research Triangle Park has joined with Intel Corporation to produce an affordable, child friendly laptop computer and software package for students in grades K-8.

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